Roast Turkey

A few days after Thanksgiving, I went grocery shopping. For some reason I ended up at the meat section,  staring at the different packages. One of the butchers approached me and pretty much begged me to buy a fresh turkey. He promised me he'd mark it down from its already sale price. Well, at 39 cents per pound, I couldn't resist. So I walked away with a 15 pound fresh Foster Farms turkey (Foster Farms doesn't add any enhancement solutions to their poultry). I stuck it in my freezer. Last week I finally decided to do something with it. I let it defrost in the fridge for about four days, then roasted it.

Turkey is incredibly easy and wonderfully tasty on a low salt diet. I rubbed it with herbs, stuffed the cavity with lemon halves, and surrounded the bird with chunks of carrots, celery, & onions. I threw in some whole allspice, whole black peppercorns, & a couple of bay leaves. I also poured about two cups of low sodium chicken broth into the bottom of the pan.

As soon as the cooked turkey had rested a bit, I carved it up. I put the wing tips, back, neck, gizzard, & heart in a separate container for making stock. Then I froze the two thighs & two wings. I made a delicious gravy from the turkey drippings & the broth that was in the roasting pan. We ate the legs for dinner, and I've been making hot turkey sandwiches, cold turkey sandwiches, mole, & curry with the breast meat. I really got my money's worth!